So, I was working for a printing shop for a while through the temp agency I mentioned back a few journals ago but wound up quitting for various reasons, one of which being health concerns (the chemicals I worked around were making me cough up a lung every damn night).

Well... Just tonight I got a new job through them, no chemicals involved.

Thing is, they said 'heavy lifting'... but didn't say anything else, not even giving me a name for the place, just an address. Annoying yes, but dammit I'm desperate and the temp agency is fairly reputable.

Now, a bit of medical history. I have a herniated disc in my lower back, in the lower lumbar region to be precise (I don't know exactly which disc off hand, but its one of those ones). When they said 'heavy lifting' I figured they meant about thirty to fifty pound boxes in a warehouse or something.

... Eighty to ninety-five pound engine blocks, and in rapid succession too, we were expected to move several skids of them, about sixteen each skid, every hour... one at a time, by hand, onto a table, so they could be inspected.

I didn't even finish the first shift. I didn't want to go home once I got there because I wanted to at least give it a try after coming all the way out there. By 2:30 my spine felt like it was going to pop out of my back and I had to explain the situation to the supervisor, tell him that the temp agency hadn't told me specifically what I'd be lifting or how much (if they had I'd have turned it down), and thanked him for at least giving me a shot... but I was honestly afraid I'd wind up hospitalized if I tried to finish the night there.

I'm going to be calling the temp agency first thing when they open in the morning and telling them about my back injury and that when it comes to 'heavy lifting' jobs that I need them to set an upper limit for these... and that they need to be a lot more specific when they tell me about one.

UPDATE: I contacted my temp agency and explained the situation. They attempted to get me a job with a printing company (not like the one I was with before, small jobs only) but it didn't take. They're looking at a new inspection job like the one I had above, but this time focusing on the smaller parts for engines (spark plugs, nuts and bolts, etc)